Comparative analysis of therapeutic plasma exchange vs. standard management in hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis: triglyceride reduction and clinical outcomes.

Background And Aim: The use of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for treatment of hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis (HTGP) remains controversial in the literature. This study compared the clinical outcomes of TPE versus conventional therapy in patients with HTGP.

Methods: Fifty-five patients with HTGP were included.

RDW Predicts Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Having Persistently Normal ALT Levels.

Background: There are studies on the determination of hepatic fibrosis with noninvasive markers but data about liver biopsy results and noninvasive markers in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) are limited. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between pathological findings and noninvasive markers, and to determine the marker that predicts fibrosis in patients with consistently normal serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, diagnosed with CHB and undergoing liver biopsy.

Methods: A total of 122 patients with CHB, 29 of them with HbeAg (+), aged 30 years and older, HBV DNA > 2000 IU / ml, and serum ALT levels measured four times in the last year, were consistently normal, and 93 of them with HbeAg (-) were included in the study.

The role of serum asprosin levels in predicting the severity of coronary artery disease in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Background: Asprosin is an emerging biomarker that plays a role in metabolic diseases. This study investigates asprosin as a predictive marker for coronary artery disease (CAD) severity in diabetic patients.

Methods: Diabetic patients (n = 181) and healthy controls (n = 60) were analyzed.

The relationship between morning blood pressure surge and serum IGF-1 level in acromegaly patients with hypertension.

Objective: High levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in patients with acromegaly cause structural and functional changes specific to the disease. These changes lead to mortality if the disease is not treated. Circadian blood pressure (BP) rhythm as measured by 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) can change with a decrease in BP during sleep and a sudden increase in wakefulness.

Serum Periostin Levels are Significantly Higher in Patients with Primary Hyperparathyroidism and Closely Related to Osteoporosis.

Background: Periostin is an emerging biomarker that plays a role in bone metabolism and may be associated with bone mineral density (BMD). This study is aimed to investigate serum periostin levels in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and its correlation with BMD in these patients.

Methods: Forty patients with newly diagnosed PHPT without co-morbidities and 30 healthy controls were included.

Minimal Change Nephrotic Syndrome with Acute Kidney Injury after the Administration of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.

Nephrotic syndrome progresses with various metabolic disturbances, such as proteinuria over 3.5 grams in 24 hours, hypoalbuminemia, and hypercoagulability. Patients usually complain about diffuse edema throughout the body, which is secondary to hypoalbuminemia.

Aortic Intima Media Thickness is Increased and Closely Related to Elevated Oxidative Stress Increases in Beta Thalassemia Minor.

Background: Abdominal aortic intima media thickness (A-IMT) may be an early marker of subclinical atherosclerosis and an objective indicator of increased oxidative stress in beta-thalassemia minor patients.

Objective: To evaluate whether aortic and carotid IMTs change with oxidative stress and to assess the relationship between these parameters in beta-thalassemia minor patients.

Methods: The study included 80 patients diagnosed with beta-thalassemia minor, and 50 healthy individuals with similar age and gender.

Liver Stiffness Is Markedly Decreased After Chronic Hepatitis C Treatment.

Aim: The aim of the study was to demonstrate the liver stiffness (LS) change in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients obtained by elastography point quantification technique in before and after antiviral treatment (AVT).

Material And Methods: This prospective study included 84 patients diagnosed with CHC who had not previously received treatment for CHC and who had an indication for using direct-acting AVT. Necessary measurements were recorded with noninvasive liver fibrosis (LF) examinations.

Serum Elabela level is significantly increased in patients with acromegaly.

Background: Although the bioactive peptides associated with the apelinergic system are known to be associated with heart failure and ischemic heart disease, there are no data on their association with acromegaly.

Aim: We aimed to investigate the change in serum Elabela levels, a novel peptide of the apelinergic system, in patients with acromegaly.

Methods: Our study included 30 treatment naive patients who were recently diagnosed with acromegaly, and 50 age-and-sex-matched healthy controls.

Proptosis is associated with thiol-disulfide in patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy.

Objective: Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is a vision-threatening finding observed in approximately half of Graves' disease patients. The pathophysiology of GO is unclear, and one of the suspected factors is oxidative stress. In our study, we compared the relationship between proptosis and SH-SS in patients diagnosed with GO.

Native thiol decreases in patients with asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism, especially in the presence of surgery indication.

Background: Oxidative stress increases in many systemic and endocrine diseases. The effect of increased parathyroid hormone levels (PTH) and the effects of this hormone on oxidative stress in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is unknown. We aimed to investigate the change of Thiol-disulfide (SH-SS), one of the oxidative stress parameters, in patients diagnosed with pHPT and the usability of this parameter in patients with pHPT.

Subclinical Left Atrial and Ventricular Dysfunction in Acromegaly Patients: A Speckle Tracking Echocardiography Study.

Background: Although it is known that the left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) measured by echocardiography is preserved in patients with acromegaly, there is not enough information about the LV and left atrial strain (LV-GLS and LAS).

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the left ventricular (LV) and left atrial (LA) functions with strain echocardiography (SE) in patients with acromegaly.

Methods: This study included 50 acromegaly patients with active disease and 50 healthy controls with similar age, gender, and body surface area.

Should lactate be added to Tokyo criteria for the evaluation of patients with acute cholangitis?

Background: Tokyo guidelines (TG13/18) are used for the severity assessment of acute cholangitis (AC). Lactate is a clinical marker of tissue hypoxia and disease severity, independent from blood pressure.

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between blood lactate level and TG13/18 criteria in patients diagnosed with AC.

Ovarian Stiffness Is Significantly Increased in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Related With Anti-Mullerian Hormone: A Point Shear Wave Elastography Study.

Objectives: Parenchymal stiffness obtained by point shear-wave elastography (pSWE) in solid organs is used as a sign of damage in these organs. However, its clinical use and whether patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have increased ovarian tissue stiffness are still unclear. The aim of this study is to determine the parameters related to ovarian stiffness and whether there is an increase in ovarian stiffness in patients with PCOS compared with healthy controls.

Serum Elabela level is related to endoscopic activity index in patients with active ulcerative colitis.

Background: In ulcerative colitis patients, Elabela levels and the relation of Elabela with laboratory parameters is unknown.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the serum Elabela levels in UC patients and its relationship with other clinical and laboratory findings.

Methods: Forty-three patients with UC and 40 healthy controls (group I) similar in age and gender were included in the study.

Direct medical cost of nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Introduction: Although it is known in the literature that the medical cost due to the complications of diabetes mellitus (DM) is high, data about the effect of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) on medical cost are limited.

Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the cost of hospitalized patients with nephropathy due to type 2 DM, the parameters closely related to this cost and the effect of diabetic nephropathy stage on medical hospitalization costs.

Methods: The study group consisted of 141 patients with DKD, and the control group consisted of 111 patients with DM without chronic complications in this retrospective study.

mNUTRIC tool is capable to predict nutritional needs and mortality early in patients suffering from severe pneumonia.

Objective: This retrospective observational study aims to evaluate the prognostic accuracy of Modified Nutrition Risk in Critically ill (mNUTRIC) compared to Nutrition Risk Score-2002 (NRS-2002) in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit due to severe pneumonia during the pandemic period.

Methods: RT-PCR test and Chest CT was performed in all patients in the emergency department pandemic area. The CURB-65 at the time of admission to the emergency department and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), Sequential organ failure assessment score (SOFA), NRS-2002 and mNUTRIC scores 24 h after hospitalization in the intensive care unit were calculated.

Modified Lung Ultrasound Score in Evaluating the Severity of Covid-19 Pneumonia.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 causes coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), which has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The aim of the study described here was to determine the severity of pneumonia and the clinical parameters related to a modified lung ultrasound score (mLUS) in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The study included 44 patients with proven COVID-19 pneumonia.

Increased Pulmonary Arterial Stiffness and Impaired Right Ventricle-Pulmonary Artery Coupling In PCOS.

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine-metabolic disease in women in reproductive age, and occurs in one of 10 women. The disease includes menstrual irregularity and excess of male hormones and is the most common cause of female infertility. Dyspnea is a frequent symptom and is often thought to be due to obesity, and whether it is due to cardiac dysfunction is unknown.

Is there a link between pre-existing antibodies acquired due to childhood vaccinations or past infections and COVID-19? A case control study.

Background: There is growing evidence indicating that children are less affected from COVID-19. Some authors speculate that childhood vaccinations may provide some cross-protection against COVID-19. In this study, our aim was to compare the circulating antibody titers for multiple childhood vaccine antigens, as an indicator of the state of immune memory between patients with COVID-19 and healthy controls, with a specific aim to identify the association between disease severity and antibody titrations which may indicate a protective function related to vaccine or disease induced memory.

Liver Stiffness Is Increased in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Related With Complement C1q/Tumor Necrosis Factor-Related Protein 3 Levels: A Point Shear Wave Elastography Study.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is very common in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In patients with PCOS, the clinical use of liver stiffness (LS) and whether LS increases or decreases are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the parameters related to LS and whether there is an increase in LS in patients with PCOS compared with healthy controls.

Disease Severity Affects Ventricular Repolarization Parameters in Patients With COVID-19.

Background: There is no study evaluating the Tpeak-Tend (Tpe) interval, Tpe/QT ratio, and Tpe/QTc ratio to assess cardiac arrhythmias in patients with COVID-19.

Objective: We aimed to examine whether there is a change in QT, QTc, Tpe interval, Tpe/QT ratio, and Tpe/QTc ratio in patients with COVID-19.

Methods: The study included 90 patients with COVID-19 infection and 30 age-and-sex-matched healthy controls.

Serum Elabela Levels Are Elevated in Patients with Hyperthyroidism.

The apelinergic system plays an important role in the modulation of the cardiovascular system via the apelin peptide and the apelin receptor (APJ receptor). Apelin and elabela, also known toddler, are peptide ligands for the apelin receptor. These two peptides show similar biological actions, such as vasodilatation, increased myocardial contractility, angiogenesis, and energy metabolism.

Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity is significantly increased in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and significantly related with serum calcium level.

Background: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP) is a rare cause of secondary hypertension (HT), but in patients with PHP, HT is very common and 20-80% of patients have HT. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV) in hypertensive patients with PHP, and was to determine the clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic parameters associated with CF-PWV.

Methods: The study included 83 newly diagnosed hypertensive patients with PHP and 83 patients with newly diagnosed essential HT without PHP.